William Bartlett Vines (1816 - 1894)

Born 16 Aug 1816 in Richmond, Virginia, United States

Descendants

Died 7 Aug 1894 at age 77 in San Bernardino, San Bernardino, California, United States

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Biography

William Bartlett Vines was born 16 August 1816, in Richmond Virginia. At age two he removed with his family to Fayetteville, Lincoln Co.Tennesee. In Tennesee, he worked at his trade of blacksmith.

At age17, he moved to New Franklin, Howard, Co. Missouri, where he married Frances (Yount) Vines. in 1843, they left Missouri and headed to California, by way mule team and by way of Fort Hall.

Their children Ellen and George were born once they arrived in California. Ellen was said to have been the first American-born child in California, as Napa Valley was still part of Mexico at the time the Vines arrived.

Her father, George Yount, had left his family in 1825, to work the wild game trade, hunting and sending meat back from New Mexico to the Eastern Market. He'd fallen, instead, into the life of a roaming trapper, making his way to California where he learned the sea otter trade and eventually working for Mariano Vallejo, who gave him a land grant in the Napa Valley.

The city of Yountville is named after George Yount. Joe Chiles was a family friend and had run into George the year before. He brought word that George was alive and thriving in California and wanted them to join him. His wife Eliza had thought he'd died, so she had remarried.

Frances' mother and older brother declined, but Frances and her sister Elizabeth Ann decided to go west.

Once they arrived, they lived in George Yount's blockhouse on Rancho Caymus. ^[1] Both Frances and Bartlett were in Sonoma during the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846. William fought alongside his father-in-law in the Mexican War.

Bartlett, is a 43 year old farmer on US Census 1860.^[2]

Children

Ellen Vines, born 1845–1870

Mary Eliza Vines, 1842–1922

Elizabeth Ann Vines, 1847-1922

James Vines, 1847–1849

John Calvert Vines, 1849-1887

George Russell Vines, 1851–1897

The Walker-Chiles Party 1843

Information Sources: Everyman’s Eden (R.J. Roske), Pioneers of California (Donovan Lewis)

The Walker-Chiles Party was organized in 1843 by Joseph Chiles, who had traveled to California with the Bidwell-Bartleson Party in 1841. In California, he met an old friend, George Yount, who had a land grant in Napa County. He and Charles Hopper (of the Bidwell-Bartleson Party) decided to also settle in California and set up a water-run gristmill, to grind wheat and corn into flour.

Joe Chiles returned to Missouri to persuade his family and friends to join them in the venture. In Missouri, he realized his children were too young for the trip, but he was able to recruit a friend, Billy Baldrige (who was a millwright) to come along, as well as two of Yount's daughters and a son-in-law.

By the time they left Missouri in May 1843, the party consisted of 30 mounted men, six women, and three wagons. For part of the way, the mountain man, Thomas Fitzpatrick traveled with them. At Fort Hall, those bound for Oregon headed northwest. The California party divided to conserve the remaining provisions. Joseph Chiles led a group of nine or ten men along a route that led from the Boise River to the Sacramento River by way of the Malheur and Pit Rivers. The date they arrived at Sutter's Fort is not recorded.

Meanwhile, the seasoned mountain man and scout Joseph Walker took charge of the rest of the group, which included the families and wagons of the men who'd gone with Chiles. He decided to travel south along the route he'd traveled east from California in 1834. This took them south from Mary's River (the Humboldt River), into present-day Owen's Valley. However, they found the route rougher than he remembered. By the time they reached the Owen's Valley, the livestock gave out and they had to abandon their wagons.

They buried their heavy tools and milling equipment in the sand (hoping to come back later for them), then packed the rest of their supplies on their horses. They rode toward the Salinas Valley near Mission Soledad, reaching John Gilroy's ranch in January of 1844. From there they split into small groups and headed north, some to Sutter's Fort.

Notable Members

• Joseph Rutherford Walker • William Baldridge • William Bradley • Joseph Chiles • Samuel Hensley • Charles McIntosh • Julius Martin • Elizabeth McPherson Martin • Pierson B. Reading • Frances Yount Vines • William Bartlett Vines • Elizabeth Ann Yount Emigrant Parties 1841 - 1846 Page 5 of 15 Rev 8/08 ^[3]

Bartlett Vines died of Rheumatism on August 7th, 1894.[ Source Citation: California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images.]

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Yount
2. ↑ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MDK6-VMC 1860 Census
3. ↑ http://coresuttersfort.weebly.com/uploads/8/6/8/9/8689417/emigrant_parties.pdf